UN chief urges immediate halt to military activity near Ukraine nuclear power plant

FREETOWN - At least 13 civilians were killed in Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, during anti-government protests on Wednesday, staff at the city's main mortuary said on Thursday. (Reporting by Umaru Fofana, writing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Jon Boyle)...

By Angelo Amante ROME - The leaders of a newly-formed Italian centrist group said on Thursday their pact will offer an alternative to "populist" rightist and leftist parties at a national election scheduled next month. The Sept. 25 ballot was called following the c...

JAKARTA - Indonesia will include the popular tourist destination of Bali as one of its priority zones for a vaccination programme against foot and mouth disease (FMD) to prevent its further spread, a government official said on Thursday. Indonesia is aiming to get a FMD outbreak...

BRUSSELS - Poland will get money from the European Union recovery fund only after it reaches the milestones and targets that the Polish government has jointly agreed with the EU in many months of negotiations, the European Commission said on Thursday. Poland is eligible for 24 bi...

LONDON - Haleon - GSK's recently spun off consumer health unit - is not a party to the U.S. litigation focused on the heartburn medicine Zantac, a spokesperson told on Thursday. "We have never marketed Zantac in any form in the U.S., as Haleon or as GSK consumer healthcare,...

DUBLIN - A strengthening recovery in air travel "across all major regions" boosted second-quarter revenue at AerCap by 36% year-on-year to $1.67 billion, the world's top aircraft lessor said on Thursday. While Dublin-based AerCap said lease rents were negatively impacted by the l...

LONDON - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan on a call that cooperation between the two countries on Ukraine and regional stability was "hugely important for the world", Johnson's spokesperson said. "The Prime Minister p...

By Clement Uwiringiyimana KIGALI - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday he had raised with Rwanda's president U.S. concerns over the jailing of Paul Rusesabagina, portrayed in the film "Hotel Rwanda" sheltering hundreds of people during the 1994 genocide....

By Joice Alves LONDON - Sterling fell against the euro on Thursday a day ahead of gross domestic product (GDP) figures which are expected to show further signs of a weakening British economy. The pound is one of the worst performers out of the G10 currencies this ye...

By Cecile Mantovani and Denis Balibouse CHARMEY, Switzerland - Swiss army helicopters have been drafted in to airlift water to thousands of thirsty farm animals sweltering under this summer's soaring temperatures in the country's Alpine meadows. Lower rainfall this...

By Christoph Steitz and Matthias Inverardi FRANKFURT -RWE is holding talks with a larger number of suppliers of liquefied natural gas (LNG), not just Qatar and North America, CEO Markus Krebber said, as Germany's largest power producer continues its efforts to replace Russian gas vol...

- Scottish curler Eve Muirhead, who helped Britain seal their only gold medal at this year's Beijing Winter Olympics, announced her retirement from the sport on Thursday and said she wanted to explore more opportunities. The 32-year-old led Britain to victory over Japan in the wo...

By Alan Baldwin - Formula E holds its 100th race this weekend with a South Korean double marking the end of an era for the electric series and likely to see Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne take the title in a farewell for Mercedes. From a debut in 2014 around the stadium...

LONDON - Britain said it is considering ways to support combining electricity generated using biomass, such as wood pellets, with technology to capture and store the resulting carbon emissions. A government consultation is looking at offering developers a guaranteed price for the...

By Toby Sterling and Elvira Pollina UTRECHT, Netherlands/PALERMO, Italy - As Europe braces for another heatwave, one group of workers has little choice but to sweat it out: the couriers shuttling around town getting lunches and dinners to customers. "It's hot, somet...

VILNIUS - Latvia's parliament on Thursday designated Russia as a "state sponsor of terrorism" over the war in Ukraine and called on Western allies to impose more comprehensive sanctions on Moscow in order to bring an end to the conflict. "Latvia recognises Russia's actions in Ukr...

COPENHAGEN - Britain and Denmark will provide more financial and military aid to Ukraine, they said on Thursday as European defence ministers met in Copenhagen to discuss long-term support for the country's defence against Russia's invasion. Britain, which has already donated adv...

LONDON - VK, owner of Russian social network VKontakte, reported a second-quarter net loss of 3.4 billion roubles ($56 million) on Thursday, partly due to a 14 billion rouble ($231 million) foreign exchange hit. The VKontakte network, often compared to Facebook, has emerged as a...

(This content was produced in Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine.) MOSCOW - Russia on Thursday condemned a move by Latvia's parliament to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. Writing on Telegram, foreign min...

HONG KONG - Ferry services between Macau and the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen will be suspended from Aug. 12, Macau's government said on Thursday, due to measures to curb COVID-19 infections, just days after it had been relaxed. Ferry services had resumed on Aug. 8....

By Andrea Shalal and Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey KYIV - Artists have painted brilliant sunflowers over heaps of burnt-out cars destroyed in Russia's invasion of Ukraine - upsetting some locals who wonder if it is too soon to beautify the wreckage of war. The group of painte...

JOHANNESBURG - Africa's top public health body said on Thursday it is still in discussions with various potential buyers for the branded vaccine of South African pharmaceutical Aspen Pharmacare's. Aspen had told on Wednesday that its vaccine production capacity might go idle soo...

By Brittany Hosea-Small and Kristina Cooke SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Najib Mohammadi had high hopes for his life in the United States when he, his pregnant wife Susan and two small children left Afghanistan in July 2021. But for most of the past year, the family has live...

By Nathan Frandino - Metro system riders in California's San Francisco Bay Area may have noticed a new station guard in recent months. A 5-year-old Harris's hawk named Pac-Man has taken up the perch at El Cerrito del Norte station, where he's on the look out - not f...

BERLIN - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has no concrete plans yet for a visit to China, he said on Thursday. There were talks but no date had been set yet, Scholz said at a news conference in Berlin. He stressed the importance of German companies not being too depe...

By Huw Jones LONDON - Britain's government proposed a far-reaching financial services law last month to exploit "freedoms" to write its own capital market rules since leaving the European Union. Approval of what is the biggest markets reform in two decades is expect...

By Firas Makdesi MAAN, Syria - Returning to their orchards after years of war, Syrian pistachio farmers hoping to revive their valuable crop have had their hopes dashed by scorched trees and the ravages of climate change. Laden with maroon-coloured bunches of nuts...

SHANGHAI - Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi's joint venture with Li Auto has applied for bankruptcy, according to a court filing, pointing to the end of a four-year-old partnership to make electric vehicles (EV). The company, 51% owned by Didi while 49% held by Li Auto, submitted t...

By Arriana McLymore and Siddharth Cavale - Walmart Inc could face an uphill battle to reclaim U.S. shoppers who opted for the neighborhood dollar store or Aldi rather than driving farther to a Walmart Supercenter when gasoline was $5 a gallon. While gasoline prices...

By Divya Rajagopal and Rod Nickel TORONTO - Suncor Energy could reap over $8 billion and boost returns to unhappy shareholders if it sells its Petro-Canada gas station business, but Canadian antitrust rules and the need for the unit's steady profits could deter that move, analyst...